crankshaft bolt sheared off/new crank pulley

**lithium** · 30-09-2009 02:54 PM

hey guys,
recently the crankshaft bolt sheared off on our 92 civic breeze, causing the crank pulley to fly off and disappear. the keyway in the crank looks pretty good considering what happened, there is only a small chip at one end.
i'm in the process of trying to bodge it together (my mechanic won't touch it short of saying 'new engine or thousands of dollars for a crankshaft replacement') and was wondering if anyone has a) had this happen to their civic and b) saved the engine without replacing the crankshaft?
also i was wondering what the best wreckers to try are in Sydney for Honda parts. i did a search and hontoys and honbits in Smithfield seem to be popular?
depending of whether i am able to effect a good repair, it's possible this car will be headed for one of those wreckers soon!
apologies for my first post being about the possible demise of (in my opinion) quite a good little car

thanks

**Fly-Rice** · 30-09-2009 03:51 PM

You should take it to Hanny's.

**lithium** · 30-09-2009 04:09 PM

are Hanny's good? can they do a lasting repair on something like this? it's not a normal thing mechanics do...

**lithium** · 23-10-2009 10:03 AM

just in case anyone else has this problem - i've patched it up and the breeze is back up and running

the steps were

1) use a decent set of left handed drill bits and drill the bolt remains out of the crankshaft. as long as the guy who did the previous timing belt change didn't use thread locker (mine didn't) it will wind straight out during the drilling as all holding tension is gone once the bolt head shears off. no stud extractor was required! centerpunch and then drill from a small bit to a large bit, remembering to lubricate the bolt/bit regularly with lots of WD-40 to prevent the bit overheating and blurring (the crankshaft bolt material is very hard)

2) pick up a used crank pulley and key. pick your jaw off the ground at the amazing prices charged for a 20 year old pulley (wrecker: $150 new: $280)

3) look at the damage to the crankshaft snout. on mine the damage was minor, it was only a very small chip on the end of the keyway. i just pushed the pulley back on with the key, using some silicone adhesive (ultra grey rtv gasket maker rated ~400psi tensile strength, with excellent shear resistance) between the spline/pulley mating surface to aid bonding

if you have more serious damage the internet says it is sometimes still possible to repair using a technique such as this:

http://www.miata.net/garage/hsue/LoctiteCrank1.html

but if you do good luck ever getting the pulley off again if the engine sees it to its next timing belt change!

4) get a new crankshaft bolt, torque to spec, put the three belts back on - and away you go

my fix has only gone 50km so far. there is no evidence of pulley wobble or bolt slippage so it's looking good - time will tell

**nisboi40** · 24-10-2009 10:42 AM

Mate buy a new motor you can find one for 400 odd bucks same thing happined to me, it will keep on comming off because most likely there's no thread for the bold to hang on to any more, this is cause by a dogey timing belt change left the bolt too loose or too tight

**e240** · 24-10-2009 01:38 PM

Crank shaft replacement won't cost thousands!!!
Even performance crankshafts cost around $600 landed

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Eagle...Q5fAccessories

Originally Posted by lithium

hey guys,
recently the crankshaft bolt sheared off on our 92 civic breeze, causing the crank pulley to fly off and disappear. the keyway in the crank looks pretty good considering what happened, there is only a small chip at one end.
i'm in the process of trying to bodge it together (my mechanic won't touch it short of saying 'new engine or thousands of dollars for a crankshaft replacement') and was wondering if anyone has a) had this happen to their civic and b) saved the engine without replacing the crankshaft?
also i was wondering what the best wreckers to try are in Sydney for Honda parts. i did a search and hontoys and honbits in Smithfield seem to be popular?
depending of whether i am able to effect a good repair, it's possible this car will be headed for one of those wreckers soon!
apologies for my first post being about the possible demise of (in my opinion) quite a good little car

thanks

**e240** · 24-10-2009 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by nisboi40

Mate buy a new motor you can find one for 400 odd bucks same thing happined to me, it will keep on comming off because most likely there's no thread for the bold to hang on to any more, this is cause by a dogey timing belt change left the bolt too loose or too tight

LOL - I have a very good condition 1999 D16Y FI engine + gearbox + drive shaft + ECU + Loom + shifter For $250...

**egSi** · 25-10-2009 09:41 AM

The crank pulley flew off when we were driving my mates EK once. It was saved

Funny shit, I agree with e240. I say **** it and swap in an injected D16 instead.

**~Sp33~** · 25-10-2009 12:51 PM

I wish my crank pulley would be able to fall off, i think this particular bolt is the highest torqued bolt in the whole car.

I've also spent thousands at Honbits, and all their parts have been quality.

**chowdaa** · 25-10-2009 11:20 PM

happen to me, my engine is now butted, then i put in a jdm d15b

the pulley came off 3 other times after loctite and 180nm. lost a belt then found in 2 kms down the road LOL.

**lithium** · 26-10-2009 10:44 AM

a second hand motor or new crank doesn't cost thousands, the labour does. unless you do it yourself of course. i'm not going to do it myself, i've never done an engine swap before so it'll take someone like me a lot of time, and my time is worth something too

to e240: your 1.6 VTEC would be definitely tempting if i was planning to do another project car! but i am a bit past that scene now

our Breeze was my fiances first car and we've since bought a replacement for it anyway

the threads in the crankshaft are fine. the splines on the second hand crank pulley are also in good condition, and the keyway is mostly intact.

i'll report back in a few hundred k - my fingers are crossed the pulley stays in place, but it looks like many others haven't been so lucky

i didn't know this problem was so common though with these engines

**wynode** · 26-10-2009 12:25 PM

It is not uncommon to snap the crank pulley bolt on some EGs. Robert (from Hannys) shook his head when he did mine as he acknowledged it as a problem. No need for new motor if crank is OK.